Opinion No. (2005)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General DANIEL G. STONE Deputy Attorney General THE DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND FIRE PROTECTION has requested an opinion on the following question: May the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection award a financial grant to a timber owner for planning, reforestation, and resource management if the timber owner is a state employee? CONCLUSION The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection may award a financial grant to a timber owner for planning, reforestation, and resource management even though the timber owner is a state employee as long as his or her duties as an employee do not relate to or affect the awarding of such grants. ANALYSIS We are informed that a landowner has applied to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection ("Department") for a financial grant under the California Forest Improvement Program (Pub. Resources Code, §§ 4790 - 4799.04 ; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, §§ 14:1525 - 14:1545.9 ; "CFIP"). The grant would help pay for forest improvements, including tree planting and tree thinning, on 120 acres of timberland in Northern California. We are asked whether the Department may provide the requested financial assistance…